The Biden administration proposed a new rule Aug. 30 that would extend overtime protections for about 3.6 million salaried workers earning less than $55,000 per year, up from the current threshold of about $35,600.
"The proposed rule would guarantee overtime pay for most salaried workers earning less than $1,059 per week, about $55,000 per year," the Labor Department said in a news release. A public comment period will be open for 60 days before the department makes a final rule. If the rule goes into effect, the Labor Department estimates 627,000 healthcare workers would be eligible.
The rule also proposes automatically updating the salary threshold every three years.
"For too long, many low-paid salaried workers have been denied overtime pay, even though they often work long hours and perform much of the same work as their hourly counterparts," Jessica Looman, principal deputy wage and hour division administrator at the Labor Department, said in a news release. "This proposed rule would ensure that more workers receive extra pay when they work long hours."
The bill is expected to face pushback from business groups, which successfully blocked the Obama administration on a 2016 proposal to raise the overtime pay threshold to around $47,000 per year. Under the Trump administration, the threshold was raised to $35,600 per year, according to a CNN report.